Raul Khajimba gets reelected as so-called president of Abkhazia, EU calls elections illegitimate

Raul Khajimba, the so-called President of Russian-occupied Abkhazia got re-elected after winning the second round of elections held on September 8. He got ahead of his opponent, leader of the opposition party ‘Amtsakhara’, Alkhas Kvitsinia.

According to the so-called election committee, the current “president” received 47.38% of the votes, while his opponent garnered 46.19% of the votes. 3154 people (nearly 4%) cast their vote “against all” candidates. A total of 65.98% of the people with voting rights (83 883 people) participated in the so-called elections.

After the announcement of the results, the Abkhaz police reinforced security in front of the “election committee”, located in the center of the capital Sokhumi of the so-called republic. Traffic was blocked in front of the building. Dozens of policemen and special forces officers were mobilized on site.

Alkhas Kvitsinia, who came in second, losing with just 1.19%, doesn’t recognize Khajimba as the winner and intends to appeal the results to the court. He claims that he got more votes than Khajimba if counting in the “against all” votes. His supporters gathered in front of his office, says Russian publication RIA Novosti.

These so-called presidential elections are not recognized by the Georgian government and the international community. While highlighting its illegitimacy, the public officials talk about thousands of displaced people from these territories and the ethnic Georgians residing in Abkhazia, who have been stripped of their right to vote in the elections.

“It has no legitimacy when the main population of Abkhazia is displaced from their homes by ethnic cleansing, this is another attempt to legitimize this ethnic cleansing. The international community has condemned it, it has no recognition, nor can it have it,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Davit Zalkaliani.

The European Union delivered a statement on the situation in Georgia at the OSCE Permanent Council meeting in Vienna on September 5, which also touched upon the so-called elections in occupied Abkhazia.

The statement speaks of the recent developments along the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) in the Gugutiantkari and Chorchana/Tsnelisi areas. Furthermore, the EU underlines that the human rights situation in the occupied territories is continuing to further deteriorate.

“It is troubling that the human rights and humanitarian situation in the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia continues to deteriorate. Actively pursued borderisation increased military presence, continuous restrictions at the crossing points at the Administrative Boundary Line, unresolved issues of documentation that affect ethnic Georgians, pushing mother-tongue education out of Georgian schools, continuing arbitrary detentions, and obstacles to the rights of displaced persons require further efforts. The European Union renews its call on the Russian Federation and the de-facto authorities to reverse these trends,” reads the statement.

The EU doesn’t recognize the ‘constitutional and legal framework’ in which the so-called elections were held on August 25 and September 8.

“We reiterate that the European Union does not recognize the constitutional and legal framework in which the so-called “presidential elections” took place on August 25 in the Georgian region of Abkhazia, with a second-round foreseen on September 8. Similarly, we do not recognize the legitimacy of the so-called “parliamentary elections” held in Georgia’s South Ossetia region on June 9. The decisions by the de facto authorities in the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia/Tskhinvali to conduct the so-called “elections” go against the continuing efforts to the peaceful resolution of the conflict in Georgia,” reads the EU statement.

At the time of the first round of the so-called elections, on August 25, representatives of international organizations, such as NATO, PACE, EU, etc. criticized the so-called elections. Countries like Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Canada, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom and United States of America also reiterated their firm support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognized borders and underlined that they do not recognize the legitimacy or outcome of the so-called elections.

As mentioned by the EU statement, the human rights situation in the occupied territories is worsening by with each passing day, not only the ethnic Georgians are deprived of their right to vote, but they face unresolved issues of documentation, the mother-tongue education is being pushed out of Georgian schools. Not to mention the illegal killings of Georgian citizens Kvaratskhelia, Tatunashvili and Otkhozoria. In times like this, it is of utmost importance for Georgia to get support from its international partners and the State should also do its part to make sure that issues facing Georgians remain on the international agenda.

The first round of the so-called presidential elections was held in occupied Abkhazia on August 25. A total of nine candidates participated. A run-off got scheduled for September 8, as Khajimba garnered 23.85% of the votes and Kvitsinia got 21,97% of the votes. The total turnout was 66.55%.

Raul Khajimba was elected in 2014 after the May Revolution. He was also a so-called Chairman of the Forum for the National Unity of Abkhazia from 2010–2015. He previously held the offices of so-called Vice President (2005–2009), so-called Prime Minister (2003–2004) and so-called Defence Minister (2002–2003). He unsuccessfully ran for so-called President in 2004, 2009 and 2011.